--- title: "How to Hide Signal on iPhone: 5 Ways (iOS 27)" description: "Hide Signal on iPhone in 10 seconds: Hide and Require Face ID moves it to a locked Hidden folder. Plus disappearing messages, alerts and search." url: https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/signal lang: en-gb published: 2026-10-31 updated: 2026-10-31 author: "VaultForYou Editorial Team" publisher: VaultForYou --- # How to hide Signal on iPhone > Signal can disappear from your Home Screen and search in 10 seconds. Its name still turns up in a few places, listed below. Published 2026-10-31 - Updated 2026-10-31 - By VaultForYou Editorial Team - Checked against iOS 27 - 31 Oct 2026 ## Quick answer Touch and hold the Signal icon, tap Require Face ID, then Hide and Require Face ID, and tap Hide App. It takes about 10 seconds on iOS 18 or later. Signal moves to a locked Hidden folder in App Library and drops out of search. Signal also has its own option inside the app: Disappearing messages. Its name can still appear in Screen Time. - **Fastest way:** Hide and Require Face ID (iOS 18 or later). - **Can it be hidden?:** Yes. It moves to the locked Hidden folder in App Library. - **Own privacy setting:** Disappearing messages. - **Still visible in:** Screen Time, Battery and your App Store purchases. - **iOS version:** iOS 18 or later - **Time needed:** About 10 seconds - **Difficulty:** Easy - **Needs an app?:** No - **Reversible?:** Yes - **Changes backups?:** No Signal can be hidden in about 10 seconds with the iOS Hidden folder, and Signal has 5 privacy settings of its own. Below are 5 ways, fastest first, and the places Signal still shows up afterwards. We checked the iOS steps against Apple's iOS 27 documentation and Signal's settings against its official help pages in October 2026. ## Method 1: Hide Signal with Face ID (iOS 18 and later) This is the only built-in way that hides Signal from your Home Screen, App Library and search at once. 1. **Find Signal on your Home Screen** Touch and hold the Signal icon until the quick actions menu opens. 2. **Tap Require Face ID** On iPhones with Touch ID it says Require Touch ID. You can also choose Require Passcode. 3. **Tap Hide and Require Face ID** Authenticate with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. 4. **Tap Hide App** Signal leaves the Home Screen and moves to the locked Hidden folder at the bottom of App Library. Signal keeps working, and its data is untouched. Open it from the Hidden folder at the bottom of App Library. On iOS 17 or earlier, remove it from the Home Screen instead (see below). **What this does not do:** it doesn't hide Signal from Screen Time, and it doesn't change iCloud backups. Anyone who knows your iPhone passcode can open the Hidden folder. ## Method 2: Signal's own privacy settings iOS hides the app icon. Signal itself can hide what's inside it. These settings work on any iOS version that Signal supports. ### Disappearing messages In a chat's settings, choose Disappearing messages and set a timer, or a custom time up to 4 weeks. You can also set a default timer for new chats in Signal's Privacy settings. Anyone in the chat can change the timer. ### Hide Screen in App Switcher Go to **Profile -> Settings -> Privacy -> Hide Screen in App Switcher**. Covers Signal with a blue privacy screen in the iPhone app switcher so recent chats are not visible. ### Archive a chat Archiving removes a chat from your main chat list without deleting it. ### Screen Lock Locks Signal with your iPhone's Face ID, Touch ID, or passcode, after a Screen Lock Timeout you choose. Your iPhone must have a passcode set first. It is separate from your Signal PIN. ### Hide Signal message previews Go to **Profile -> Settings -> Notifications -> Show**. Choose Name, Content, and Actions; Name Only; or No Name or Content to control what Signal shows in notifications. ## Method 3: Move Signal photos into a vault Hiding the app doesn't hide photos you've saved from it. Those sit in your camera roll, where anyone scrolling Photos can see them. Move them into a vault, then delete the originals from Photos and empty Recently Deleted. > **Lock this in VaultForYou.** Keep Signal photos in an encrypted vault that opens only with a pattern you draw. [Download on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/vaultforyou/id0000000000) See [how to hide photos in Signal](/en-gb/hide-photos/signal) for the in-app options. ## Other ways to hide Signal - **Remove it from the Home Screen.** Touch and hold Signal, tap **Remove App**, then **Remove from Home Screen**. It moves to App Library and still shows in search. - **Keep it out of Siri and search.** Go to **Settings -> Siri -> Excluded Apps**, tap **Add Apps** and select Signal. Apple says excluded apps aren't available to Siri, Search or suggestions. - **Hide its notification previews.** Go to **Settings -> Notifications -> Signal -> Show Previews** and choose **Never** or **When Unlocked**. - **Hide it from your App Store purchases.** In the App Store, tap your photo, tap **Apps & Purchase History**, then swipe left on Signal and tap **Hide**. ## Does hiding Signal hide its notifications, Siri suggestions, Spotlight and backups? | Where | Hidden with Face ID | Removed from Home Screen | |---|---|---| | Notification previews | Content hidden | Still shown | | Siri suggestions | Not shown | Still shown | | Spotlight search | App hidden from results | Still shown | | iCloud backup | Unchanged | Unchanged | Apple says information inside a locked or hidden app doesn't appear in places like notification previews, search and Siri suggestions. Hiding never changes what your iPhone backs up. ## How to unhide Signal 1. **Open App Library.** Swipe left past your last Home Screen page. 2. **Open the Hidden folder.** Scroll to the bottom, tap Hidden and authenticate. 3. **Unhide Signal.** Touch and hold Signal, tap Don't Require Face ID and authenticate again. Signal goes back to App Library. Drag it to your Home Screen from there. ## Hide Signal on iPad The same Require Face ID menu works on iPad with iPadOS 18 or later. Hiding doesn't sync through iCloud, so hide Signal separately on each device. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can you hide Signal on iPhone? Yes. On iOS 18 or later, touch and hold Signal, tap Require Face ID, then Hide and Require Face ID. Signal moves to a locked Hidden folder in App Library and disappears from search. On older iOS versions you can only remove it from the Home Screen, which leaves it in App Library. ### Where does Signal go when you hide it? It goes to the Hidden folder at the very bottom of App Library. Swipe left past your last Home Screen page, scroll down and tap Hidden. The folder opens with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. Signal keeps working from there, with all its data. ### Does hiding Signal delete it or its data? No. Hiding or removing Signal from the Home Screen doesn't delete the app or anything in it. Only Delete App removes it from your iPhone. Even then, data stored in your Signal account online is not deleted. ### Can someone tell that I hid Signal? Possibly. The Hidden folder itself is visible at the bottom of App Library, though it needs Face ID or your passcode to open. Signal can also still appear in Screen Time, the Battery list and your App Store purchase history. Anyone who knows your passcode can open everything. ### Does Signal have its own lock? Yes. Signal has Screen Lock. It works alongside the iOS lock. It uses the same Face ID or passcode as your iPhone, so it adds a second prompt but no separate secret. ## Bottom line Hide and Require Face ID is the fastest way to hide Signal: about 10 seconds, and it's gone from your Home Screen and search. Add Signal's own settings to hide what's inside it. For photos, a vault is the only option that takes them out of Photos. ## Sources - [Apple Support: Lock or hide an app on iPhone](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/lock-or-hide-an-app-iph00f208d05/ios) - [Apple Personal Safety User Guide: Lock or hide apps on your iPhone](https://support.apple.com/guide/personal-safety/ipsd0be4c185/web) - [Apple Support: Change Siri settings on iPhone](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/change-siri-settings-iphc28624b81abc/ios) - [Apple Support: Change notification settings on iPhone](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/change-notification-settings-iph7c3d96bab/ios) - [Apple Support: Lock or hide an app on iPad](https://support.apple.com/guide/ipad/lock-or-hide-an-app-ipad4026f2de/ipados) - [Signal Support: Screen Lock](https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007059572-Screen-Lock) - [Signal Support: Screen Security](https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360043469312-Screen-Security) - [Signal Support: Set and manage disappearing messages](https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007320771-Set-and-manage-disappearing-messages) - [Signal Support: In-App Notification Options](https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360043273491-In-App-Notification-Options) ## More Signal privacy guides - [How to lock Signal on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/lock-apps/signal) - [How to hide photos in Signal](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-photos/signal) - [Signal privacy on iPhone: every setting](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/apps/signal) ## Hide apps for other apps - [How to hide Messages on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/messages) - [How to hide WhatsApp on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/whatsapp) - [How to hide Facebook Messenger on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/messenger) - [How to hide Telegram on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/telegram) - [How to hide LINE on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/line) - [How to hide Viber on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/viber) - [All hide-app guides](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps) --- Our guides are written and fact-checked by the VaultForYou team against Apple's own documentation. We make VaultForYou, a private vault app for iPhone. Download on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/vaultforyou/id0000000000